Foreign ministry acts after US embassy staff survey flags workplace issues

Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken measures to address workplace conditions at the country’s embassy in the United States after an employee survey produced results that stood out negatively from the overall picture, LRT reported.

The anonymous engagement and job satisfaction survey was conducted at the ministry and its diplomatic missions at the end of 2025. The ministry received aggregated results by department in March.

Following the results, the foreign minister spoke with Lithuanian Ambassador to the United States Gediminas Varvuolis, while the ministry’s general inspector held discussions with embassy staff. The survey findings were presented to the ambassador and employees.

The ministry also introduced measures to improve the workplace atmosphere, management practices, workload management and team cohesion. These included targeted leadership training for Varvuolis.

No official complaints received

News portal Delfi was the first to report possible problems with the workplace climate at the embassy. It obtained results from the anonymous survey, in which the embassy’s staff responses stood out for their negative assessment.

Delfi also reported that the ministry had received complaints about Varvuolis’s conduct. According to sources cited by the portal, some embassy employees had reported disrespectful behaviour, raised voices and long working hours.

Varvuolis told ELTA this week that he had not personally heard complaints from embassy staff about him. The ministry also denied receiving official complaints from employees.

“Before the information appeared in public and after it was reported in the media, the ministry had not received official employee complaints that would provide a legal basis for investigations into equal opportunities, violence, harassment or official misconduct,” the ministry said.

However, based on the reports published in the media, the ministry formed a commission to investigate the situation. It said further action would be considered after the commission’s conclusions were received.

Officials meet with ambassador

The ministry confirmed that its chancellor, Aistė Stakėnienė, met with Varvuolis on Tuesday. It said she regularly communicates with both embassy employees in Washington and the ambassador.

On Wednesday, Varvuolis also met with Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee, and, according to ELTA, with presidential adviser on foreign policy Asta Skaisgiryte.

Varvuolis was appointed ambassador to the United States last summer, replacing diplomat Audra Plepytė. He previously headed Lithuania’s embassies in Japan and Belgium and served as deputy head of Lithuania’s permanent mission to NATO.